KEY POINTS:
Another institutional shareholder in potato products maker Mr Chips has agreed to accept Simplot Australia's takeover offer.
Anglesea Consulting has signed an agreement with Simplot committing it to accept an offer at or above $2.90 a share for its 10.46 per cent stake in Mr Chips. Anglesea is owned by Mr Chips chairman Graeme Edwards' family trust.
The development follows a similar agreement between Simplot and majority shareholder Sinclair Long Term Holdings, which holds 53.2 per cent.
The latest agreement also sees Anglesea agree to take up a 10.19 per cent stake in the as-yet unnamed Simplot subsidiary which will make the takeover offer - a key factor in Simplot's proposed takeover bid's success.
Simplot intends to hold around 60 per cent of Mr Chips. To achieve this, it proposes a takeover via a wholly-owned subsidiary for all of the shares in Mr Chips.
This is conditional upon 90 per cent acceptance from all shareholders, and several institutional shareholders agreeing to take up approximately 40 per cent of the Simplot subsidiary. The offer is subject to due diligence, and an adjustment to the price per share will take place to factor in a payment of a fully franked dividend.
The Anglesea and Sinclair agreements mean that to date, Simplot has 63.66 per cent acceptance from shareholders.
Due diligence has to be completed by May 30, and Simplot will need to make an offer before the end of July 31.
Mr Chips shares closed steady at $2.20 yesterday.
